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With four straight playoff appearances in the immediate past, there is no reason to believe the Grizzlies won’t get there again. But it’s not about just getting there, not about playing a tough seven-game series, as the Grizzlies did in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs against Oklahoma City last season, only to come home after a dispiriting Game 7 loss.

At this stage of his NBA career, there are a lot of euphemisms for Vince Carter.

Veteran. Elder statesman. Old guy. Those were Carter’s own words when describing his exit in Dallas this summer, after owner Mark Cuban put a three-year, $46.1 million offer sheet in front of 25-year-old Chandler Parsons. The Benefactor indeed.

Everyone always says the expectations are highest in their clubhouse. But when the St. Louis Cardinals say it, well, it has a certain depth. The past decade has seen seven playoff trips and two World Series championships. And this season, the Cardinals are hunting their fourth straight Red October.

2007: U.S. Sen. and 2004 Democratic nominee for Vice President John Edwards campaigned in Memphis in advance of the 2008 presidential race with a stop at the Metropolitan Interfaith Association store at 910 Vance Ave.

So if the Miami Heat win a third straight NBA championship, it’s all about LeBron James and a cast of future Hall-of-Famers that includes Dwyane Wade, Ray Allen and, in a lot of people’s view, Chris Bosh.

Everyone was in a good mood. Not just normally affable Grizzlies players Mike Conley and Mike Miller, but former Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins and Pro Football Hall-of-Famer Jim Brown, a couple of hard-nosed throwback types.

Hard as it is to believe now, it was only May 3 when the Grizzlies last played a basketball game. Less than three weeks later, that Game 7 loss at Oklahoma City stands as the franchise’s last normal moment.

Through five playoff games, four overtimes and three wins in overtime, the Memphis Grizzlies have played fast and loose with opportunities.

Big leads have evaporated – see that 20-point advantage in the third quarter of Game 5 at Oklahoma City Tuesday night – and late leads have been squandered – see that five-point cushion with about a minute to go in the Game 4 loss at FedExForum.

It was a natural enough question, but if you’re a Grizzlies fan you had to love the answer.

On Wednesday, April 23, a day before Game 3 of the Grizzlies’ first-round series with Oklahoma City, a visiting reporter asked Tony Allen (who played at Oklahoma State) if he was finding extra motivation from playing the Thunder.

If Kevin Durant is Superman then Tony Allen is … that’s right, kryptonite. At least that was the contention in at least one Internet headline after Allen rendered Durant mortal in the Grizzlies’ overtime win in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series at Oklahoma City.

When the Miami Heat came to town in early April, they were not the two-time defending NBA champions as much as they were the next obstacle between the Grizzlies and their desired destination: The Western Conference playoffs.

The Grizzlies had just watched the Golden State Warriors score 14 straight points to turn a seven-point deficit into a 100-93 victory. Yet Memphis coach Dave Joerger rejected the notion that the Grizzlies, who also happened to miss their last seven shots in the fourth quarter, had lost the game more than the Warriors had won it.

Historians, not to mention members of the 1985-86 Boston Celtics bench, will note that in the Grizzlies’ recent victory over the Utah Jazz the Memphis bench shot 42.9 percent: significant because it ended a stretch of 14 straight games of the bench shooting 50 percent or better, the longest such streak in the NBA since those Celtics did so in 15 consecutive games.

Two hours before the Grizzlies played the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday, Feb. 26, at FedExForum, Memphis coach Dave Joerger talked about the last loss – at Charlotte – the game ahead, and that aggravating play that recently invaded Memphis living rooms, including Joerger’s own.

Decades from now, it might be the first story Tony Allen tells. The night Allen returned to the FedExForum court for the Grizzlies, after missing more than a month with a wrist injury, and when he checked into the game he received a standing ovation.

It took until Tuesday, Feb. 18, but with the Grizzlies’ 98-93 victory over New York, they raised their record at FedExForum (15-14) above .500 for the first time since they were 3-2 after a home loss to Toronto on Nov. 13.

It took until Tuesday, Feb. 18, but with the Grizzlies’ 98-93 victory over New York, they raised their record at FedExForum (15-14) above .500 for the first time since they were 3-2 after a home loss to Toronto on Nov. 13.

The calendar says the Dallas Mavericks will be at FedExForum to play the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday, Feb. 5. Just one game of 82 in the coast-to-coast marathon that is the NBA season.

But it’s a game that has the potential to weigh heavily on the Grizzlies’ ultimate playoff fate. The Mavericks come in sitting in the eighth and final playoff position in the Western Conference with a record of 28-21.

Their winning streak is a modest two games. But don’t tell the Grizzlies they’re the same team that they were a month ago.

Since a five-game losing streak from Dec. 11-18, the Grizzlies have gone 7-4. They have added forward James Johnson, who has injected them with energy, athleticism and an ability to contribute numbers all across a box score. They have exchanged a disappointing Jerryd Bayless for shooting guard Courtney Lee, who in the Grizzlies 108-101 victory over Atlanta Sunday, Jan. 12, at FedExForum scored 15 points in his first start since being acquired from Boston on Jan. 7.

2013: On the front page of the Daily News, Club Crave, at Fourth and Beale streets, had been closed as a public nuisance under a General Sessions Environmental Court order. The order followed a Christmas Eve shooting at the club that killed one person and injured two more. Memphis Mayor A C Wharton Jr. vowed the city would seek to demolish the building. The club still stands but has not reopened since.

You can’t really call this forward James Johnson’s second chance because the Memphis Grizzlies are his fifth NBA team, if you count his four preseason games with the Atlanta Hawks before being released last October.

Walk up to an ATM, and you’re on camera. Walk into a convenience store, and you’re on camera. Walk onto an NBA court during game time, and you’re not only on camera but every movement you make – or don’t make – will be tracked, sifted, analyzed.

The results from the 12th annual GM survey from NBA.com are in and the Grizzlies show up in several categories. But Tony Allen was the only player to finish first in a category as the league’s general managers voted him the league’s best perimeter defender.

In a way, it’s almost as though Mike Miller went abroad on a special internship. I mean, really, that’s how big the gap is from playing for the Grizzlies in small-market Memphis to going to South Beach to play a defined role on a Heat team that would win two NBA championships behind LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.

The immediate past features a franchise-best 56-win season, a first-ever trip to the Western Conference Finals and a declaration from ESPN The Magazine that the Memphis Grizzlies are the No. 1 pro sports franchise in North America.

Did you ever wonder if in golf you get a lift from the loo? Or if there’s a penalty for breaking and entering while on the course? Tourneys in May spoke to these issues. Kinda.

The 2013 Volvo World Match Play Championship in Kavarna, Bulgaria, was won by Graeme McDowell, who bested Thongchai Jaidee in the final match. Ho hum. For present purposes, let’s go to McDowell’s May 19 quarterfinal match with Nicolas Colsaerts. On hole 10, a short par-4, Colasaerts sprayed his tee shot right of the fairway, near the green, into a thicket marked as a hazard.

WASHINGTON (AP) – The man who led the Internal Revenue Service when it was giving extra scrutiny to tea party and other conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status told Congress on Tuesday that he knew little about what was happening while he was still commissioner.

WASHINGTON (AP) – The ousted head of the Internal Revenue Service apologized to Congress on Friday for his agency's tougher treatment of tea party and other conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status. He said they resulted from a misguided effort to handle a flood of applications, not political bias.

Four of the five players in the 2013 recruiting class of the University of Memphis basketball team will be featured in the annual Jack Jones Basketball Shootout that begins Thursday, March 21, and continues through Saturday, March 23.

For Briarcrest Christian School graduate Michael Oher, his journey was storybook and he’ll start on the offensive line for the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, Feb. 3, when they play the San Francisco 49ers at the Superdome in New Orleans.

The hospitality industry is the nation’s largest private sector employer, yet many in its workforce do not have access to affordable and consistent health care, education opportunities or financial mentoring.

Voter turnout in the most popular election cycle among Shelby County voters was 61.9 percent, about the same percentage as four years ago. But the 371,256 voters is fewer than 2008 when more than 400,000 Shelby County voters cast ballots. The percentage is about the same because there are fewer registered voters in Shelby County than there were four years ago after a purge by election officials.

When manager Tony La Russa retired and slugger Albert Pujols went panning for gold in California, there was no reason to expect the St. Louis Cardinals’ 2012 season would stop just a game short of the World Series.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) – The Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a proposed ballot measure that would have given a professional poker player the exclusive rights to operate casinos in four counties.

The August elections were already going to be more complex than usual. There are the changes from this year’s drawing of new district lines for the Tennessee Legislature and the U.S. House of Representatives.

Two days after all the votes were counted in the Tennessee presidential primary, state Republican Party leaders had already worked out how many of the state’s at-large delegates would go to their top three candidates.

One night earlier, their coach had rightly accused them of “not working.” So it was only fitting that on this night the Grizzlies had to literally work overtime to stop a four-game losing streak and find their misplaced pride.

One night earlier, their coach had rightly accused them of “not working.” So it was only fitting that on this night the Grizzlies had to literally work overtime to stop a four-game losing streak and find their misplaced pride.

Airline Estate Winery in Washington state’s Yakima Valley is owned by the Miller family: father Mike, who has been growing grapes since 1968; son Marcus, the winemaker; and daughter Lori, marketing director. I tasted a few of their wines recently and really come out in favor of the Airfield Estate Riesling 2010, Yakima Valley.

Memphis’ eyes were bigger than its stomach in 2011, but in a good way.

Some local restaurateurs launched completely new concepts; others entered new submarkets with additional stores. Even a handful of national retailers entered the Memphis market after having locations elsewhere in Tennessee for years.

APG Office Furnishings has seen substantial growth since moving to Memphis in early 2009. The recently opened Downtown location at 100 S. Main St. offers an upgrade from the company’s old Shelby Drive store, as well as the benefit of pedestrian traffic.

CANNES, France (AP) – His political fortunes and his nation's economy at risk, President Barack Obama on Thursday implored European leaders to swiftly work out a eurozone rescue plan, aware of the potential fallout at home if they fail.

“Ask and ye shall receive.” I’ve heard that for years. May even have read it somewhere. But I certainly have proved it to be true. Repeatedly, over time.

For instance, five years ago I started writing a monthly crossword for the Rotarian, the magazine of Rotary International. Rotary is the service club started by Paul Harris in 1905. I bet you’ve heard of it.

In the wake of 9/11, Estée Lauder Cos. chairman Leonard Lauder noticed his company was selling more lipstick than usual.

A 2008 New York Times article explained Lauder proposed lipstick purchases were a way to gauge the economy. When it’s shaky, he said in the article, women are more apt to boost their mood by buying inexpensive lipstick than pricey shoes.

NASHVILLE (AP) – Ned McWherter, one of the most powerful Tennessee Democrats during his quarter century in public life, never got caught up in any of the FBI undercover investigations that pushed another governor out of office early and led to several prison sentences and suicides for others in his party.

In the past two and a half years, companies have had to tighten more than budgets – instead of expanding offices, business owners have been forced to do more with their existing real estate.

“They’re trying to get more people into the spaces they have without having to move or take on more square footage,” said Jeff Schultz, senior vice president of sales for APG Office Furnishings, an Ohio-based furniture distributor with a regional office in Memphis.

It takes a particular poverty of the imagination to quote the opening of “A Tale of Two Cities” every time one writes a story summing up a year, and yet 2010 truly does seem as if it were “the best of times and the worst of times” in the local restaurant business.

Interim County Mayor Joe Ford became the Democratic nominee for mayor in the August county general elections Tuesday night.

And the August sheriff’s race will be a contest between Democrat Randy Wade and Republican Randy Wade.

All three were among the winners in Tuesday’s low turnout county primaries.

Approximately ten percent of Shelby County’s nearly 600,000 voters cast ballots in early voting and election day polling.

Ford, who was appointed interim mayor in December, beat County Commissioner Deidre Malone and General Sessions Court Clerk Otis Jackson in the Democratic primary. He will face Republican Mark Luttrell who had only token opposition in the Republican primary from perennial contender Ernie Lunati.

Luttrell has raised more money than all three of the Democratic primary contenders combined and began running television ads in the last week runup to election day.

The final unofficial totals in the Democratic mayoral primary are:

Ford 20,360 57%

Malone 12,916 37%

Jackson 2,168 6%

The pair of primaries for Sheriff featured eight candidates, seven of whom either currently work for the sheriff’s department or are past employees. Only Reginald French, in the Democratic primary was not a former or current department official.

Wade was the 2002 Democratic nominee, losing to Luttrell who is leaving as Sheriff after serving two terms. French was the Democratic nominee in the 2006 elections.

Oldham is Luttrell’s chief deputy, the number two position in the department. He is also a former director of the Memphis Police Department.

Voters in the primary elections decided to return six Shelby County commissioners to new four year terms with Tuesday’s results. They also elected six new commissioners. The winner of the thirteenth commission seat will be decided on the August general election ballot in a contest between district 5 Democratic incumbent Steve Mulroy and Republican challenger Dr. Rolando Toyos. The winner of the match up will determine whether the commission remains majority Democrat or goes majority Republican.

In the remaining ten contests, the primaries decided who gets the seats since no one ran in the opposing party’s primary.

The most hotly contested contest among the commission races was for District 4 Position 1. Outgoing Probate Court Clerk Chris Thomas beat John Pellicciotti, appointed to a commission seat last year but running for a different position in the same district. Jim Bomprezzi, the former mayor of Lakeland, was the third contender in the contest.

The final unofficial totals in the Republican primary:

Thomas 7,631 52%

Pellicciotti 4,871 33%

Bomprezzi 2,298 15%

In position 2 of the same district incumbent Republican Wyatt Bunker easily overcame two challengers with former Lakeland alderman John Wilkerson finishing second and Ron Fittes finishing third.

Millington businessman Terry Roland claimed the third position in the district that takes in all six of Shelby County’s suburban towns and cities.

Roland beat George Chism to take the seat Pellicciotti was appointed to but opted not to run for in deference to Roland.

Heidi Shafer, an aide to outgoing County Commissioner George Flinn, claimed Flinn’s District 1 Position 2 seat over Albert Maduska.in the GOP primary.

In the Democratic commission primaries, Melvin Burgess claimed Malone’s District 2 Position 3 seat in a field of six contenders. His closest contender was Reginald Milton. Burgess, a city school system audit manager, had run for the seat before. He brought in 54 percent of the vote.

The other hard fought Democratic commission primary saw Justin Ford, son of the interim mayor, claim his father’s District 3 Position 3 seat.

Ford beat Edith Moore, a retired IBM executive, whom the commission appointed to the seat after the elder Ford became mayor.

The final unofficial vote totals are:

Ford 7,342 66%

Moore 3,822 34%

Democratic incumbent commissioners Henri Brooks, Sidney Chism and James Harvey were all re-elected over primary challengers.

The county-wide primaries for seven clerk’s positions saw the return of former Criminal Court Clerk Minerva Johnican 16 years after Republican challenger Bill Key took her job. Johnican decisively beat Ralph White and Vernon Johnson in her first bid for office since the 1994 defeat. She will face Republican Kevin Key, the son of Bill Key in the August general election.

The final unofficial vote totals are:

Johnican 16,381 51%

White 10,170 31%

Johnson 5,954 18%

Former Juvenile Court Clerk Shep Wilbun easily won the Democratic primary with 76 percent of the vote to face Republican Joy Touliatos in August for the office being vacated by Republican Steve Stamson. Touliatos was unopposed in the primary.

Aside from Leatherwood, Jimmy Moore is the only other of the seven clerks seeking re-election. Moore ran unopposed in the GOP primary. He will face Democrat Ricky Dixon in August.

Trustee Regina Newman was appointed to her office following the death last year of Paul Mattila. Newman easily overcame M LaTroy Williams in Tuesday’s Democratic primary. She will face David Lenoir, who beat former Shelby County Commissioner John Willingham in the Republican contest.

The final unofficial vote totals are:

Lenoir 15,922 58%

Willingham 11,569 42%

The other six candidate field on the ballot was in the Democratic primary for Probate Court Clerk. Sondra Becton posted impressive vote totals over her rivals, bringing in 35 percent of the vote with Peggy Dobbins her closest rival. Becton, who is making her fourth bid for the office, will face Republican Paul Boyd, who ran unopposed in his primary.

The closest contest of the evening was in the Democratic primary for County Clerk. Wrestling promoter and television personality Corey Maclin won his political debut by less than 1,400 votes over Charlotte Draper and LaKeith Miller. He will face Republican Wayne Mashburn who beat Steve Moore in the companion primary.

Early voting in advance of the Aug. 5 election day begins July 16. The August ballot will also feature state and federal primary elections including the statewide primaries for governor and the primaries for all nine of the state’s Congressional districts.

Few issues have divided Americans as completely as health care reform. Proponents believe that making medical care available to 32 million uninsured people will open a new era of social responsibility and fulfill the government’s covenant with its citizens, a sort of 21st Century New Deal.

The name “John Paul Jones” is etched on the newsroom office door of The Daily News building in Downtown Memphis and also on the main entrance of a 16,000-seat arena at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.

Meanwhile, the Democratic primary for mayor grew to three contenders as General Sessions Court Clerk Otis Jackson filed his qualifying petition just before the deadline. He joins interim County Mayor Joe Ford and Shelby County Commissioner Deidre Malone.

Luttrell ruled out a bid for Shelby County mayor last year (2009). But when Harold Byrd decided not to run in the Democratic primary, some local GOP leaders asked Luttrell to reconsider.

The result touched off a scramble of candidates from both parties for the open sheriff’s office. But before the noon deadline, the initial field of over a dozen possible contenders was narrowed to ten – six Democrats and four Republicans.

The other surprise at the filing deadline was the return of attorney Walter Bailey to the District 2 Position 1 seat he gave up in the 2006 elections. Bailey sought re-election then to another term despite a two term limit on commissioners. Bailey lost to J.W. Gibson who decided not to seek re-election. He also lost a court fight to overturn the term limits.

Bailey was the only candidate who had filed for the seat at the Thursday deadline.

Only one incumbent county commissioner – Republican Mike Ritz -- was effectively re-elected at the deadline because he had no opposition.

All but one of the eleven contested County Commission races will be decided with the May 4 primaries. The only general election battle for the August ballot is the district 5 contest between GOP challenger Dr. Rolando Toyos and whoever wins the May Democratic primary between incumbent Steve Mulroy and Jennings Bernard.

Former County Commissioner John Willingham also returned to the ballot among a field of Republican contenders in the primary for Shelby County Trustee.

And former Criminal Court Clerk Minerva Johnican joined the Democratic primary field for her old job. Incumbent Republican Bill Key pulled petition to seek re-election but did not file at the deadline.

Here is the list of races and contenders from The Shelby County Election Commission. All candidate have until noon Feb. 25 to withdraw from the ballot if they wish.

The invitations urged political supporters to “Return Shep Wilbun” to the Memphis-Shelby County Juvenile Court Clerk’s office.

At a club on South Main Street this month as FedExForum began to fill up a few blocks away, Wilbun hosted an evening fundraiser at $100 a head. It drew State Reps. Ulysses Jones, Larry Miller and Joe Towns as well as Shelby County Commissioner Steve Mulroy.

The Downtown corner where the giant bird once stood in front of his restaurant and bar is now a vacant space. A sign posted on the door states an announcement is coming soon about a new location.

Several Downtown restaurants have closed during the prolonged recession, but the departure of this one involves the bankruptcy issues of its landlord. The Red Rooster closed after a judge dismissed the bankruptcy case of Lee’s Landing Commercial LLC.

The Red Rooster closed the same week the Chapter 11 bankruptcy case of Lee’s Landing Commercial was officially closed and dismissed.

Three entities have Lee’s Landing in their names, according to the court documents. Lee’s Landing Garage LLC is the ownership entity for the block-long development near Beale Street. Lee’s Landing Commercial, which filed for bankruptcy, had control over a portion of that space. A third entity called 140 Lee’s Landing LLC operated the Red Rooster restaurant through a sublease.

Nothing to crow about

Judge Jennie D. Latta dismissed the bankruptcy case because Lee’s Landing Commercial “failed to file monthly operating reports and pay quarterly fees as required by the bankruptcy law and rules.”

The court earlier had granted a motion allowing Seedco Financial, which had loaned $1.46 million to Lee’s Landing Commercial LLC, to start collecting rent on the property. The same order allowed Lee’s Landing Garage LLC to retain ownership.

There are plans to reopen Red Rooster at another location, according to a sign on the door as well as postings on the restaurants’ Facebook and MySpace pages.

“The Red Rooster is crowing about his new and better barnyard!” the sign reads on the door at the corner of Second Street and Lt. George W. Lee Avenue. “Watch for updates next week about our expansion and new locations!”

Attempts to reach Red Rooster representatives were not successful.

Andy Kitsinger, vice president of planning and development for the Center City Commission, said the owners of Red Rooster could not reach an agreement on renegotiated lease payments.

“Red Rooster, I understand, was financially viable and making it work under their previous terms, but couldn’t make it work with the new offers,” Kitsinger said.

Beaten path

The Red Rooster follows other restaurants that have closed or left Downtown.

Encore, a bistro in Peabody Place, served its last meal the same week the Red Rooster closed. Other Downtown restaurants and bars that have closed recently include LoLo’s Table, Pat O’Brien’s and a Starbucks.

Restaurants have also closed in other parts of the city. Bruno’s now has a for lease sign in the window at its Midtown location on Madison Avenue.

“Restaurants have actually been feeling it for a while,” Kitsinger said. “The economy has hit restaurants hard nationally. You know, a lot of people have been eating at home … and going out less to restaurants.”

Mike Miller, the president of the Memphis Restaurant Association, said he thinks the worst might be over for restaurants, as new ones open to replace those that have closed. For instance, South of Beale just opened Downtown. Existing ones, such as the Happy Mexican, are branching out with new locations.

“My general sense of it is that earlier in the year was definitely when we saw a lot of closings,” Miller said. “This comes from talking to liquor representatives who sell to people as well as other vendors, and personal knowledge. It seems to me that, even though there are restaurants continuing to close, it has slowed down.”

The bus system in Memphis has an undeserved “mythology,” according to the people who run it. However, some who ride Memphis Area Transit Authority buses everyday – and many who don’t – contend the system is far from perfect.

Jeshahnton “Shaun” Essex has been named assistant administrator at Methodist University Hospital.

Essex will be responsible for environmental services, mail services, food and nutrition services, laboratory, radiology and facility and engineering services. Essex has served as assistant administrator at Methodist North Hospital the past four years.

The 17th annual Porter-Leath Rajun Cajun Crawfish Festival will be Sunday from noon to 6 p.m. at Wagner Place between Union Avenue and Beale Street.

The festival will feature a crawfish boil with 500 pounds of free crawfish given away at noon. There also will be a gumbo cook-off, a crawfish eating contest, crawfish toss and live entertainment provided by Lafayette’s Bayou Boys and New Orleans’ Roy Carrier and the Night Rockers.

During March in Memphis, it seems as if most days could be considered “basketball day.” But as the trappings of last week’s C-USA tournament at FedExForum give way to NCAA tournament rankings and travel schedules, the forum will be the site Saturday of what can only be described as a day devoted to what is the city’s most popular sport – basketball.

Two days after the Nov. 4 elections, the final unofficial totals were finally posted by the Shelby County Election Commission. The long vote count involved absentee ballots whose count was delayed because of problems with an optical scanning machine.

Kevin M. Spiegel Friday will begin work as chief executive officer and administrator of Methodist University Hospital.

Spiegel is board-certified in health care administration and is a fellow in the American College of Health Care Executives. He previously served as president and chief operating officer of Trumbull Memorial Hospital in Warren, Ohio.

WASHINGTON (AP) - The practice of insurers basing auto insurance premiums on a customer's credit rating was questioned at a House hearing Tuesday, with critics asking whether it disproportionately hurts young people and minorities.

The National Association of Black Journalists has chosen WMC-TV Action News 5 anchor/reporter Syan Rhodes as one of four journalists for the NABJ/UN Tanzania Fellowship. Rhodes will travel with NABJ President Bryan Monroe to the Republic of Tanzania May 5-15 to focus on African health, malaria prevention and other issues.